Song Sparrows are medium-sized and fairly bulky with a rounded head. Their bill is short and stout, tail long and rounded, and wings broad. Song Sparrows are streaky and brown, with thick streaks on a white chest and flanks. On a closer look, the head is a mix of warm red-brown and slaty-gray. However, these shades as well as the amount of streaking, vary extensively across North America.

References cited in Species Profile

• Aldrich, J. W. 1984. Ecogeographical variation in size and proportions of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Ornithol. Monog. 35:1-134.
• Arcese, Peter, Mark K. Sogge, Amy B. Marr and Michael A. Patten. 2002. Song Sparrow (Melospizamelodia), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/704
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2015. Song Sparrow. All About Birds. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Song_Sparrow/id
• Davis, A. and P. Arcese. 1999. An examination of migration in Song Sparrow using banding recovery data. N. Am. Bird-bander 24:124-128.
• Marshall, J. T., Jr. 1948. Ecologic races of Song Sparrows in the San Francisco Bay region. Part I. Habitat and abundance. Condor 50:193-215.
• National Park Service. 2015. Channel Islands Song Sparrow. U.S. Department of the Interior. http://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/song-sparrow.htm
• Nice, M. M. 1937. Studies in the life history of the Song Sparrow, Pt. I. Trans. Linn. Soc. N.Y. 4:1-247.
• Partners in Flight. 2012. Species assessment database. http://rmbo.org/pifassessment/Database.aspx
• Sauer, J. R., Hines, J. E., and Fallon, J. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, results and analysis 1966-2004, version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildl. Res. Ctr., Laurel, MD. Available at www.mbr-pwrc. usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html
• Shuford, W. D. 1993. The Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas: A Distributional and Natural History of Coastal California Birds. California Avifauna Series 1. Bushtit Books, Bolinas, CA.
• Shuford, W. D., and Gardali, T., editors. 2008. California Bird Species of Special Concern: A ranked assessment of species, subspecies, and distinct populations of birds of immediate conservation concern in California.
• Sogge, M. K., and van Riper, C., III. 1988. Breeding biology and population dynamics of the San Miguel Island Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia micronyx). Tech. Rep. 26, Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, Univ. Calif., Davis.
• USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 2012. North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966 - 2010 analysis. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/specl10.html